Bicycle sales up in wake of high fuel prices

10:37 AM EDT on Wednesday, October 5, 2005

Getting around by car is getting expensive these days, and that's one reason the bike business is so good. In fact, the sign in front of Scheller's Fitness & Cycling in Louisville does the math for you -- the average annual fuel cost for a Honda Accord is $928. For a Trek bike? Not one penny.

On a warm night in Cherokee Park, there's fun on four legs, two legs and two wheels. But some are starting to see bicycles as more than just a pastime.

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The folks at Scheller's Fitness & Cycling say more people are buying bikes. Some kicked into high gear by seven-time Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong.

“The road bike market is what's really exploding and that's what you see the guys on in the Tour,” says Ian Graham of Scheller’s.

But others seem motivated by the cost of motoring around.

“A few more people are looking at it...as a mode of transportation,” says Graham.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce says more bikes have been sold than cars in the last 12 months. And at Scheller's, some of the focus is on bikes, a fuel-free way to run to the grocery for a gallon of milk.

But is this new interest in two wheels a fad or real trend? Only time -- or maybe the price of gas -- will tell.

Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.